Feng Shui

THE PHILOSOPHY OF FENG SHUI-2

by Paul Darby Ph.D, The Feng Shui Doctor

From Tao, ’nothingness’ came Yin and Yang, opposites which attract, from Yin and Yang developed the five elements --- Earth, Water, Fire, Metal and Wood. From the five elements came the ‘10,000’things’, ie-everything else. So, everything is a part of the Tao, the oneness, the tapestry of life and everything is built up from yin/yang --- opposites, trying to become each other --- female/male and from a mixture of the five elements. It is these basic ingredients which form the chi, flowing in from all the Compass directions, used in Feng Shui, colourfully known as ‘the dragon’s breath.’

Taoism is thought to be the philosophy of Lao Tzu who, some sources say, was born in South China in 604BC. It may well be however, that he did not really exist and that the philosophy of Taoism, like Feng Shui, came from a group of learned sages and masters. There are many stories connected with Lao Tzu, saying that he and the Buddha were the same person and that Lao Tzu was born at the age of eighty! What a pregnancy that must have been!!!!! Lao Tzu, or the group of sages known as Lao Tzu, wrote the book called The Tao Teh Ching, which tells of the nature of life in harmony with the universe. It is a book which brings together many of the concepts of Taoism and Feng Shui as well as the broad beliefs of Buddhism and Shinto.

But remember, Feng Shui had already existed, probably back into prehistoric times, from human beings watching nature and working out his/her connections with it. Feng Shui had been used in the siting of gravesites to protect them from feng ’wind’ and shui’ water. Feng Shui , pronounced Fung Schway [or Fong Choy], was brought into the philosophy of Taoism and became part of the way of life for the Ancient Chinese. It was not a ’Sunday’ religion, but very much a practical way of organising your environment and life.

The arts of Feng Shui in the environment, were also used in the internal environment of the human body through Chinese medicine, especially acupuncture. In my study of Taoism, particularly the writings of Kristofer Schipper, I have been amazed by the many rituals of Taoism in which the human body is referred to as a land, a natural environment, with rivers and mountains, its chi energy helped by Tai Chi, acupuncture and other forms of medicine and exercise. Feng Shui and Taoism, then later on, Buddhism, also blended with the way of martial arts, particularly Kung Fu .

Without going into the vast detail which I had to study, you are already beginning to see how Feng Shui is not an isolated earth science or art form, but rather it is an important part of a huge picture, a way of life to the Ancient Chinese, which therefore linked together and made complete sense and was not an ‘airy fairy, mystical mumbo jumbo’!

This is the danger in what I call ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes Syndrome’, the blinding of people with mystical terms and phrases--stay way from it--keep it down to earth, and so, by using The Compass School Feng Shui explained in this course, it can always be approached as practical, simple and well proved!

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